Lahore: The Punjab Excise & Taxation Department on Tuesday announced its decision to conduct a crackdown against individuals found fabricating details to evade commercial property tax payments, a news source reported. To this effect, Excise & Taxation DG Chaudhry Masood-ul-Haq stated that the department team would pay surprise visits to all commercial centres in the province to check documents and details pertaining to ownership.
The DG added that the department would take strict action against commercial property owners who have fabricated details in order to misguide the officials. An official source revealed that many owners keep showing that they are personally running businesses on the commercial premises when they have actually rented these out. The source added that this allows them to pay less tax as the amount charged on personally used commercial properties was significantly lower than that of those rented to others.
According to experts, if property owners follow the rules outlined, the provincial government would be able to raise it revenue by PKR 1 billion annually. He added that the department plans to carry out a detailed survey to determine tax evasion tactics and eliminate the problem.
